05/20/05 Pears top the fiber charts

There are several aspects of U.S.D.A.'s new Dietary Guidelines for Americans that has Pear Bureau Northwest excited. One is the increase of servings of fruit and vegetables per day, with Pear Bureau officials noting a pear makes for one serving of the ten recommended daily for fruits and veggies. The second is the recommendation that a variety of fruits and vegetables should be consumed. And the third, according to Laura Wieking of Pear Bureau Northwest, is the need for Americans to increase their fiber intake in their diets. WIEKING: They are specifically calling out fiber as a nutrient that Americans need more of. And pears are one of the most fiber filled fruits around. In fact, Wieking says in U.S.D.A.'s guidelines, pears were the first fruit listed after about eighteen peas, grains, and beans. Now realize the fiber benefit comes only when the skin of a pear is eaten, but that does not take away from the overall message of a pear's health benefit. So now how does Pear Bureau Northwest turn the good news into a marketing and promotion opportunity to tell consumers to buy and eat more pears? WIEKING: We put out a press release to the national media about how pears fit with the new guidelines and about fiber. I also went back to New York City and just met with about fifteen consumer magazines & a lot of them either health magazines or women's interest publications & to just let them know about how we fit in about fiber.